Secure Your Digital Identity, Name or Brand on the Decentralised Web [Internet 3.0]

The future of the internet is decentralised, on a blockchain and nobody controls it. It’s also a place where you own your own name and identity. Learn how to secure your digital identity, brand or business name here. Let’s go!

Website Domain Names

Traditionally, when we talk of buying a website domain name, in reality we are leasing a subdomain in yearly increments through ICANN via an intermediary like namecheap or Godaddy.

In this old model, the .com, .net or .org is the TLD (Top Level Domain) and you are leasing a subdomain (e.g. mywebsite). You ‘lease’ mywebsite but not ‘.com’. And what you don’t own can be taken away.

What if You Could Own Your Own TLD?

Well, on the new net you can. And if you are so inclined, you can sell subdomains on it too.

E.g. The TLD .mywebsite could have countless subdomains like jack.mywebsite, sunny.mywebsite or sandwich.mywebsite etc.

Introducing Handshake Names 

Handshakes names are top level domains that live on the decentralised and open-source Handshake blockchain. No one has control of this digital ledger which makes the TLD’s private, censorship resistant and seizure proof.

There are no recurring fees, and you own your name outright after successfully placing a winning bid or made a one-time payment. Currently you can can bid for TLD’s for pennies on the dollar, with no annual renewal fees.

Read about https://handshake.org/

Then check out https://www.namebase.io/

Secure Your Name, Business or Brand on Namebase

Namebase is an onramp for Handshake, a place where you can bid on, purchase and sell TLD’s at auction. Did I mention there are no annual renewal fees?

What Can You Do With a TLD? (Two Examples)

https://unstoppabledomains.com/ is supported by Coinbase, and demonstrates beautifully what you can do when you own the TLD. They purchased .crypto and .zil from namebase. They now sell tens of thousands of subdomains between $20 and $40 and also allow the creation of NFT (Non-Fungible Tokens).

The Evolution From .com to .c

Back in 1985, the first .com/ came into existence when it was purchased by a computer manufacturer called Symbolics, Inc.

Then in 1991 the TLD .co/ came into existence.

More recently in April 2020, Clay Collins won .c/ at auction for 55,000.00 HNS (HNS is the native token for Handshake). He currently sells subdomains on .c/ for $20 recouping his initial investment within 6 months.

Building Websites and More…

What else can you do with your top level domain name?

• dLinks is a no-code way to instantly deploy a decentralised website to your Handshake name. See an example of my dLink here.
• You can build html, Vercel and WordPress websites on handshake TLD’s https://learn.namebase.io/starting-from-zero/how-to-create-a-handshake-website and host on Kinsta and other domain hosts like Amazon AWS.
• Log into websites using your Handshake name without needing to store emails or passwords

So Why are you Writing about Handshake Domains on a Local Search Marketing Blog?

Therein lies the opportunity for early adopters…

Decentralisation and blockchain technology are the future! Look at the growth of Bitcoin, cryptocurrency, DeFi and the Internet of Things to see where this growth technology and businesses is going. Hint… to the moon!

1. Owning your name or brand is always of paramount importance. If you don’t own it, someone else will. This could result in serious negative consequences for you like identity theft, fraud and corruption.
2. As a local business owner, your potential customers are searching for you with high level keywords, often by profession and location. E.g. DanceTeacherAustin or SushiSanDiago. Now is a good time to secure such TLD’s as well as your personal/professional and business name to stake your claim in our decentralised future.

Not that you can buy the equivalent .com now, but at the beginning of the internet, .com’s were going for pennies on the dollar. Nowadays these domains are worth millions. cars.com reportedly sold for $872M. What’s your name, business or brand worth to you?

Look at the price of your present profession-location .com. Do you wish you owned… sorry leased, it? It may not be available for millions of dollars but it’s still unavailable and or unobtainable.

If you act now, you will be early to the party but will be able to secure the best vanity TLD’s to secure your brand in our digital, decentralised future. Do it now, way before your competition is even aware of Handshake and web 3.0. You read it here first, thank me later.

How Do I Get My Brand TLD?

If you are in the crypto space, acquiring your handshake TLD will be pretty straight forward. Just head over to namebase.io and deposit some Bitcoin (BTC) or connect your Coinbase wallet https://www.coinbase.com/join/perry_tb to your new namebase account.

However, I’m aware most people reading this blog are not in crypto (what are you waiting for?).

Don’t make the same mistake and wait for the right time to get your TLD because time waits for no man (or woman). Once it’s gone, it’s gone.

You may have the opportunity to pay a lot more for it later, if it ever becomes available again, but not at today’s prices.

Education is not only a ladder of opportunity, but it is also an investment in our future. – Ed Markey

Fortunately, namebase make it easy for those of you with fiat currency. You can buy HNS tokens with USD. Alternatively, head over to Coinbase and buy Bitcoin there. This is probably the easiest way to get out of inflationary fiat currencies and into crypto today.

Follow the instructions in the following link to get started: https://learn.namebase.io/starting-from-zero/buy-hns

You don’t need a lot to start, try $20. Bids on namebase TLD’s can be submitted for as little as 0.4 HNS, (about $0.20) which is the lowest entry point.

Here’s a HNS to USD converter for dynamic currency comparisons https://crypto.com/price/handshake.

Once you enter a bid it goes into an auction process that take 5 days. During this time, other bids can be entered by other parties.

You can counter bid and add ‘blind’ bids so no one can see your bid.

At the end of the auction period, the second highest bid wins after a reveal phase that lasts one week.

Read more about the auction process here: https://learn.namebase.io/starting-from-zero/how-to-get-a-name

I’ve got a Handshake Name, Now What?

Now that you have successfully purchased your Handshake TLD you can use it as a login around the decentralised net.

• Set up a dlink page https://www.namebase.io/dlinks and connect your profile with all your content on the internet.
• Build your own website. Handshake domains supports WordPress on the web 3.0.
• Build your own social network and own your content
• Build Dapps (decentralised applications)
• Receive cryptocurrencies

You’ll never have to pay another annual fee for your domain name like in the days of old. Now you own your name and digital identity, no one can take it away from you. You’re future proof!

You can make a lucrative income by selling subdomains on your TLD (remember Unstoppabledomains?). There are many other business opportunities available to you, simply by owning your own TLD but for the limited scope of this post, we won’t go there.

In my opinion, discovering this technology (time if writing March 2021) is akin to discovering Bitcoin in 2012.

HNS tokens will appreciate in value due to the de-appreciating supply. By simply exchanging inflationary fiat USD for HNS, your stake in your TLD will increase in value.

For some historical prospective, here are some .com websites and their current price according to Wikipedia.

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Secure Your Digital Identity, Name or Brand on the Decentralized Web [Internet 3.0]